


Not a School Night

by Fitzeroy_McCandless



Series: Resident Evil: Bleeding Hearts; AU Stories [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alcohol, Claire's a dork, Drunk crying, F/F, Family, Family Dinners, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Jill's a gearhead, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Mother-Daughter Relationship, No Smut, One Shot, Parenthood, Playlist, Post-Resident Evil 6, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Two Moms, car talk, jackednotstacked, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24435256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fitzeroy_McCandless/pseuds/Fitzeroy_McCandless
Summary: Jill, after the events of "Without Her Angels", has stepped back from her active roll in the BSAA, still serving as a special investigator and an instructor as her wife, Claire Redfield Valentine, is given the task of building a companion team to the BSAA special forces team led by Chris, Silver Dagger.Jill, Claire and their two daughters, Valerie and Edelie have a regular evening together. No zombies, no bio-terror, no monsters. A night where they get to be a normal family for a moment of simple quiet.
Relationships: Claire Redfield/Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy/Ada Wong, Piers Nivans/Chris Redfield
Series: Resident Evil: Bleeding Hearts; AU Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764673
Comments: 14
Kudos: 15





	Not a School Night

**Author's Note:**

> So this story is set shortly after the end of "Without Her Angels" in my "Bleeding Hearts" AU. Working through the trilogy, I've left a lot of scenes out for pacing and a lot of fun or fluffy scenes and lines on the cutting room floor, but this is fan fiction, there are no rules! Rather than squeeze things into places they don't fit, I've started working on these small little one offs within the AU that scoop up several of my favorite scenes that didn't make it into a finished product. That and I couldn't help but reference both She-Ra and Avatar since animation seems to be dominating right now XD. The episode of She-Ra that made Claire cry btw was Episode 11 of season one.

“Ugh, god please tell me I’m not hallucinating the date, it is Friday right?” Claire groaned as she let her bag slide off her shoulder as she slammed the door behind her. She tossed her BSAA field jacket onto one of the hooks on the wall as she wandered into the kitchen, the sharp scent of paprika, thyme and cayenne hitting her nose.

“Hey love, how’d today go?” Jill asked, glancing over her shoulder as she set the pair of tongs in her hand down. She turned from the stovetop as Claire approached her, leaning her chin against Jill’s chest; a short, contented grunt escaping her throat as she looked up at her wife.

“Hi.” Claire muttered with an amused smile as Jill lifted an eyebrow.

“Hey.” Jill countered, smirking as Claire embraced her, mewing softly as Jill held her. “You didn’t answer my question.” Jill added as Claire kissed her and stepped back, Jill looking over the chicken sizzling on the grill top of the range.

“I cannot believe how much work goes into just naming the damn team.” Claire sighed as Jill laughed.

“You get one approved yet, I hope you didn’t actually submit Sappho’s Angels.” Jill shook her head, folding her arms as she leant up against the counter, glancing at the oven on the wall; four minutes left on the timer.

“I did because I have no fear!”

“Or shame.”

“That either!” Claire shouted playfully as Jill shook her head, smiling. “I even had a Hell’s Angel’s looking patch idea but Agnette shot me down.”

“What was your second submission then?”

“Well since the Kyoshi Warriors is trademarked already I submitted Cyprus Arrow, figured that kinda fits better since we’re basically the same structure and capabilities of Silver Dagger.” Claire laughed as she walked over to a small rack holding several wine bottles on the counter. Jill handed her a glass from the cabinet as Claire selected one for herself.

“They should let that one slide, pick someone as your second yet?” Jill asked as Claire poured herself a glass of wine.

“Your old friend, Luciani accepted the offer. Heard enough about his career through you and anyone you trust is good enough for me, want a glass?” 

“I’m good actually, some stuff to do after dinner I want to be clear headed for, and that’s good, Parker will serve you well. He may have a bit of trouble adjusting to command though, he likes to rush into tackling problems sometimes.” Jill laughed as Claire raised an eyebrow, raising her glass to her lips.

“What are you doing after dinner that requires so much focus, Mrs. Valentine?” Claire asked smirking as she stepped closer to Jill.

“Well, Mrs. Valentine, my three-o-nine gearset got here today.” Jill tossed back leaning forward as she responded in a playful gibe as Claire giggled, kissing her as she got close. 

“So you’re really committed to supping that thing up? I thought the Hellcat was already plenty powerful?” Claire asked as Jill groaned.

“It was! The point of getting it was cause it was the most powerful muscle car I could get without any special modifications. I’m sitting here thinking nothing will beat seven hundred horsepower, even the GT five hundred can’t touch that, but no! Dodge has to show me the middle finger by dropping the damn Demon way before I’m ready to buy another car and they’re only making it for a year!” Jill frantically complained as Claire laughed at the exaggerated highs and lows of her voice. “Beats me by more than a hundred horsepower and zero to sixty is two point three seconds! Two point three seconds Claire! Fastest damn production car on the market built on the same damn chassis as mine and I missed it by, like, a year!” Jill finished, groaning loudly into her hands as she covered her face.

“Well I’m sure you can get it faster, especially if you let Chris and Piers’ brother’s in on the project.” Claire laughed, offering reassurance as Jill grinned at her.

“Rob’s got a dyno and after I get the new differential installed we’re gonna take it to the dragway so I can get used to launching it with the new torque settings.” Jill smiled mischievously as the oven’s timer beeped. Jill grabbed a trivet from the counter and pulled a sizzling dish filled with zucchini and squash from the oven, setting it on the counter. “Can you go get our girls, I just have to plate everything and dinner’s ready.”

“Sure, be right back.” Claire returned, kissing Jill on the cheek before she ran off upstairs to collect Valerie and Edelie for dinner. Jill began setting their small kitchen table as she heard a steady thumping down the stairs.

“Edie, baby, stop running.” Jill called out flatly without turning around.

“How did you know it was me and not Val?” Edie called out, folding her arms as her older sister tried to walk silently behind her, sneaking up on her mother.

“Because Val thinks she’s sneaky and is currently ten feet behind me.” Jill returned with a smirk as Valerie stopped, pouting.

“How do you always do that?”

“Val, baby, just cause I’ve been home more doesn’t mean I’m any less sharp.” Jill teased, turning and smiling at her eldest. She leaned down and kissed her on the head. “Go have a seat, wait till your mother is down here before starting.” Jill added as the girls took their seats, Claire coming down the stairs in a loose blue button up and pair of gray sweatpants.

“Ugh, this feels better.” Claire sighed, throwing her head back as she pulled her hair out of a ponytail and let it hang loose, stopping and refilling her glass of wine before taking her seat.

“Go ahead girls.” Jill said, releasing Edie and Val to start eating as she joined them. They started their meal in silence, the end of the week and relief of the weekend hanging in varying degrees on all of them.

“What days are you working again next week mommy?” Valerie spoke up after a moment, the question directed at Jill.

“Just Monday through Wednesday. Aunt Ada is picking you up those days since I’m going to be in with your mother all day. I’ll be home Thursday and Friday though.” Jill answered as Valerie nodded.

“Can I go over to their house Monday? That’s Eva’s first day and I wanted to hang out after school.” Valerie returned as Jill glanced at Claire.

“I’ll make sure to ask Leon, that ok with you?” Claire asked as Jill nodded, Valerie trying to stifle a triumphant smile.

“When’s Uncle Chris and Piers going to be back?” Edelie asked, looking at Claire.

“Not this Monday, but the next one. They’re still visiting Piers’ parents for a bit, then they’ll come back and stay in the guest house again.” Claire answered as Edelie nodded, looking down as the clicking of a small golden retrieved came up next to her.

“Lacey, no, you get fed after dinner. Edie baby, don’t let her beg.” Jill spoke up as the dog huffed, walking off to lap water from its bowl in the corner of the kitchen.

The girls brought their plates to the sink as they finished, Jill standing to start cleaning up the counter as Edie stood nervously in by her side. 

“Can mom and I keep watching She-Ra until bed?” Edelie asked sheepishly as Jill cocked her head, looking down at her.

“Did you finish your homework?” Jill countered.

“But its not a school night! I have all weekend!”

“Did you, finish, your homework?”

“I did the math, but still have reading.” Edelie admitted, muttering and looking away as Jill sighed, looking off at her wife before back at Edelie.

“Just because it’s a not a school night, you get that reading done tomorrow before you get your tablet though. That and make sure you feed Lacey before you login to Netflix.” Jill called after Edelie as she began to bolt out of the room, course correcting to feed her dog before running off into the living room and turning on the TV.

“It’s cute, you should sit down with us at some point.” Claire offered as she approached Jill, refilling her wine. “Poor girl needs it after this week.” 

“Hmm, I know, after that damn lunchroom incident. Glad you didn’t bring me to that meeting cause it sounds like I would have killed the fucking guidance counselor.” Jill muttered angrily, loading the dishwasher and slamming it shut.

“I almost did.” Claire returned flatly.

“It’s a hard line. I know that little stuffed animal makes her a target, especially at her age among the other kids but—well she carried that damn thing through the jungle. I think it represents a much deeper comfort than I have the right to take from her. Even if it is making her a target for bullies.” Jill sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I’ll keep working on them, maybe bring Chris for some extra muscle—oh! Or Ada! That would be fun to see her rip some two-bit guidance counselor to pieces.” Claire smiled as Jill laughed.

“I’d love to see that. It’ll be nice to have another ally though, that and even though Eva and Val have been closest, Eva’s always been sweet to Edie. Maybe having another big sister in the school will help with the social bullshit.” Jill added as Claire put her hand on Jill’s arm.

“No matter what though she knows she’s safe and loved here, that’s what matters most. I’m going to go watch with her now though, should finish the first season before bed.” Claire added, grabbing the bottle of wine as she joined Edelie in the living room. Jill finished cleaning the countertop as Val wandered back into the kitchen.

“Hey love, you looking for something?” Jill asked as Valerie sat at the island across from her mom.

“I was—are you still going to work on the car tonight?” Valerie asked as Jill tossed the paper towel she was using in the garbage, leaning on the clean countertop with both hands.

“Yup. You wanna help me out?” Jill asked with a smile as Valerie jumped up at the request.

“Yeah!”

“Put your shoes on and meet me in the garage out back, I’m gonna pull the car around.” Jill smirked, grabbing her keys off the counter as Valerie ran to the backdoor and began to lace up her sneakers. 

The idle rumble of Jill’s Hellcat echoed off the walls of the two car, detached garage as she pulled in, stopping in the center of the bay where her lift was set up, Valerie standing off the side. Jill put the car in neutral, pushed down the parking brake and turned the car off.

“Ok so first thing Val is we’re going to lift the car up.” Jill said as Valerie smiled.

“All the way up?”

“All the way up.” Jill returned the smile as she began to position the struts under the frame of the car, slowly raising the hydraulics to grip the frame in the right places. “That button right there, hold it for me.” Jill pointed at the controls on the side of the lift pillar, Valerie pushing and holding the button. The hydraulics whined as the car slowly lifted off the ground. It raised above their heads and Jill nodded for Val to release the button. Jill engaged the safety and pulled a small work cart under the car as Val followed closely.

“So, this is an American car so what tool set am I using?” Jill asked as she opened up her ratchet set and began to inspect the bolts on her exhaust.

“Standard right? Like inches and such.” Valerie offered.

“Very good. What would I use for mom’s BMW or your bike?”

“Metric, except for the after-market parts on the bike, those are American, wait, some of them are I think.” Valerie second guessed herself as Jill laughed.

“Well you and your mom have tried to make that damn thing into the Frankenstein of dirt bikes.” Jill laughed as Valerie grinned.

“Yeah, but it’s fast.” Valerie returned haughtily, her mother laughing.

“Trust me baby, I get it.” Jill returned as she began to unbolt the exhaust from the underside of the car, setting the bolts down on a magnetic tray as she removed them. “So I have to pull the exhaust off to reach the differential back here, this is the part that delivers power from the drive shaft to the rear wheels. The new gears I’m putting in will give me torque, more power basically that gets from the engine to the wheels. That should, with the upgrades I’m doing throughout the engine, make this car way faster than it is now.” Jill grunted as she pulled another component loose, walking over to the workbenches against the wall and grabbing the large auto parts box with the new differential gears.

“Since it’s an upgrade, not a repair, we’re going to keep the old parts. Just incase mommy wrecks this one on an overzealous pull.” Jill muttered into a grunt as she loosened the first bolt on the differential.

“So kinda like when mom and I put a turbo on the bike and it almost immediately blew smoke?” Valerie asked sheepishly as Jill paused and glanced at her,

“Yes, only your mom seems to like to do that kind of thing.” Jill said, slightly annoyed as Valerie giggled.

“It worked after we fixed the seals, she just hit it from a cold start.” Valerie offered, grabbing Jill’s shop light and adjusting it to give her mother better visibility as she worked.

“Sometimes I forget how much you’ve already soaked up between the two of us.” Jill said softly as Valerie shrugged.

“I think this is kinda what I want to do, work on cars and bikes and stuff.” Valerie offered, handing Jill a rag to wipe her hands as she set another bolt down.

“Definitely could, you’re already well on your way. Do you know what exactly you’d want to do as a mechanic?” Jill asked as Valerie stared at the underside of the car pensively.

“I like the upgrades, they’re fun and like a puzzle sometimes.” 

“Then you want to do custom work.” Jill laughed. “You’d definitely start with going to a mechanic course, get your ASE certification. That and I know you Val, you definitely wouldn’t be able to stand working for someone else’s shop for too long after earning your certification, so I’ll make you a deal.” Jill offered as Valerie nodded.

“I’ll pay for it but you get at least an associates in business or something along those lines so you can do your own, I’ll help you open your own shop.” Jill finished as Valerie tried to hide a large grin.

“I really, really like that idea.” Valerie said softly as Jill set her wrench down and smiled at her, wiping her hands as she heard a soft rustle of grass outside the garage.

“Mommy?” Edelie’s voice came quietly, inquisitively as both Valerie and Jill looked out through the open garage door.

“Hey baby, everything ok?” Jill asked, stepping out from under the car as Edelie walked into the room.

“We were almost finished with an episode and—I don’t really know what happened. Mom seems really upset and I—”

“Ok, baby, you did the right thing by coming to get me. Val, stay here with your sister for a minute, maybe tell her about what we were doing? I’ll go check on mom ok?” Jill stammered as she spoke, running out of the garage and back towards the house.

“Come on, try to remember her last op, what could have set this off. Shit, shit, shit!” Jill muttered to herself, expecting to find Claire struggling through a flashback, panic attack. It seemed that they all suffered from them at some point; Jill, Claire, Chris, even the girls after being chased through Europe, then the crash in the jungle.

Jill ran into their living room, hearing a soft whimpering coming from the couch. Claire was laying on her side, hand covering her face as she quietly sobbed. Jill sat down, throwing her arms around Claire as she struggled to sit up, burying her face in Jill’s shoulder as she continued to cry.

“Hey, hey, I’m right here, you’re ok, you’re safe.” Jill soothed quietly as she gently rocked back and forth, the show paused on the TV. Jill glanced at the table, noticing the wine bottle Claire had opened practically empty.

“She promised, she promised she’d look out for her.” Claire muttered as Jill squeezed her tighter, slightly confused.

“You’re ok my angel, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing bad would happen as long as they had each other and now they don’t and it’s sad!” Claire continued sobbing, Jill catching a strong scent of wine on her breath, glancing back at the TV. Jill let out a relieved breath, grabbing the remote as she let the episode play through its last few scenes.

“I think you’ve had way too much to drink my love.” Jill said softly as Claire nuzzled up closer to Jill, still crying as she looked up at her.

“Maybe, it’s still sad though! What the fuck I thought this was a kid’s show?” Claire insisted, sniffling as she glanced back at the TV. 

“You kinda scared Edie, and me.” Jill laughed as Claire sighed, humming softly as she lay against her wife.

“Sorry, caught me off guard.”

“Its ok, thought you where having a panic attack or something. I’m going to go get the girls, let them know everything is ok. You take some motrin and drink some water.” Jill said, standing as Claire let out a muffled whimper of protest, flopping over on the couch.

“We can all finish the season before bed if you like.” Jill offered, looking back at Claire as she clumsily propped herself up.

“Mmm, sure. That sounds good.”


End file.
